LEAP: GNU/Linux-Equipped Astronauts Project

Is your code fast? Ours goes 17,000 miles per hour!

Recent articles on the International Space Station (ISS) have
mentioned that the astronauts on board will be issued laptop
computers (called "PGSCs") running Win95. In fact, the Space
Shuttle astronauts already have laptops, but they must frequently
be rebooted. This creates an opportunity for GNU/Linux; GNU/Linux
can free the astronauts from Win95 crashes. Imagine the
sound bites: "At least our GNU/Linux laptops don't crash
all the time."

LEAP is a project to port to GNU/Linux those applications that the
astronauts use on their laptops, so that each astronaut has
a choice of operating systems. We know that several of the
astronauts already use GNU/Linux at home, and would appreciate
being able to use it "at work" too.

GNU/Linux has already flown in orbit, both in experiment modules and on
an IBM ThinkPad. It will certainly be built into at least some
experiments flown on the ISS. This project is meant to extend its
benefits to the astronauts themselves, garner favorable publicity
for freed software from high- (very high-!) profile users, liberate
those NASA programs, and have some fun.

NOTE: This project is "on hold" until somebody can get
some coöperation from NASA or ESA personnel. If you know
anybody there with any resposibility for the ISS, pester them to
come forward. If we can get a copy of the software, we can duplicate
it and improve on it in short order, and post it. There will be
no reason not to switch, then. (Certainly it would be foolish for
them to try to run MSExchange there, which they seem to be planning!)

NASA has had problems with Computer Virus contamination in the past. In
October 1997 NASA spread a Macro Virus (which infects MS Office products
such as MS Word wordprocessor) from Houston to Moscow, and infected the
workstations that are used for Mir spacestation ground control including
daily communications with the Mir Crew. While the on-board computers on the
Mir spacestation were not infected, the laptop used by the American
astronaut was.

We have had a report that the latest plan for
officially sanctioned OS on the ISS laptops is not Win95, it is
Solaris 2.6. This is good news for us. Why?

Current laptops are 486's.

The current 486's haven't the oomph to run Solarix.

Mission software really should be ported and tested in
shuttle missions before the ISS becomes habitable.

The best porting target consistent with eventual execution on
Solarix laptops, given current hardware, is GNU/Linux.

After running GNU/Linux the astronauts may well find they prefer it
over Solarix for its low resource demands and better integration
with laptop hardware. (Does Solarix support APM, PCMCIA, and IrDA?)

In any case, code can remain portable between GNU/Linux and
Solarix.

NASA should be more open to porting help, now that they need
the ports for official reasons.

We now have lots of information about the
software, the
hardware, the people who
make decisions about them, and the people who
make them work. Note: please don't pester these people; they
know about us and will get in touch when they're ready to.
(See also the other pages below.)

(Never fear, this is and will remain a low-volume list.) Once you're
on the list, please introduce yourself, and tell us what you're good at.
Project announcements will appear on this main list.
If you want to participate in discussions about LEAP, we have
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to the message above.

We can put GNU/Linux in (permanent) orbit!

A private note to NASA personnel: Your identity, if you
contact us, will be kept strictly confidential. We have
no interest in creating administrative hassles.